A Naruto Dance
by Frivolous Fingers
Summary: One month after the unsuccessful retreval of Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura are given the task of chaperoning a dance. NaruXSaku. Please Review


Sakura sat at the window and let out a depressed sigh

This story takes place one month after the battle with Naruto and Uchiha Madara. I suggest you read this while listening to some love song with a good beat (like listen to your heart, I will posses you heart, or even Paralyzer. I prefer listen to your heart) whatever your favorite is. Finally, **I DON'T OWN NARUTO!! **(Though I do wish I did)

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A Naruto Dance

Sakura sat at the window and let out a depressed sigh. This is a party, she was supposed to be having fun. Sadly, all she could do was wonder how she got here. One month ago they had come back from their mission to retrieve Sasuke. Amazingly, everyone came out of the skirmish with Sasuke and the Akatsuki alive. Well, everyone except Jiraiya-San. _'Poor Naruto'_ she thought. He had been hurt so many times and then to lose someone so close. So how was it that now, after all the hardship and heart ache that he had suffered, he was the one that was having a good time at this party while she sat in the corner depressed? After the mission, they had all been given time to recover, both physically and emotionally. Now they were being given easy missions. This one was simply to chaperone the school dance because many of the teachers had to do high ranked missions in their 'free' time. Currently she was sitting at a table just sipping some punch. She watched as Naruto danced with Konohamaru and his friends in the center of the large hall. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice her long time blond haired friend and rival sit next to her.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Ino asked startling Sakura. She then gave Ino a questioning look. "Naruto, how he keeps going." She replied to the unasked question. "I mean look at him, he just keeps going. He has suffered more in his sixteen or so years of life then most face in their entire lives. And yet still he smiles with all the honesty and innocence in the world. I don't think I have ever seen him put on a fake smile in my entire life."

Sakura thought for a moment, and realized that Ino was right; she had never seen him give a fake smile. He even brought out the innocent smiles in people who had spent most of their lives trying to hide their emotions. Ino then said something Sakura thought she would never hear anyone say.

"I envy him… If I was in his position, I would have given up a long time ago. But he didn't." Ino gave an exasperated sigh. "You know, I never took him seriously, until a few months ago, when he used the Rasengan Shuriken. It took him two tries. The first time it failed, and I made fun of him. The second time… the second time he surpassed anything I had ever seen. I heard that not even the Fourth could do what Naruto did. And he did it for himself. He wasn't trying to impress anyone."

Sakura smiled to herself. Naruto had really changed over the years, but at the same time, all that was good about him stayed. It seemed that it was impossible for Naruto to change for the worse. He could only get better. "Yeah, that's Naruto for you. Always full of surprises…"

"I envy you to, Sakura…" Ino kept her face down when she said this. Sakura was almost convinced it was her imagination. She hadn't heard Ino say anything even implying that she was envious of Sakura. Sakura was about to ask Ino what she meant when there was a tap on her shoulder. She looked up to see Naruto. He dragged her to her feet and pulled her on to the dance floor.

"Come on Sakura, dance!" he said with his contagious smile. Next thing she knew she was dancing along with everyone else. For the next half hour they just had fun dancing. An hour later, she found herself rocking back and forth in his arms, swaying to a slow love song, her face buried in the crook of his neck.

"How do you keep on going?" she thought aloud without realizing it.

"I don't know really, the Kyuubi probably helps, I guess." He replied. It took her a moment to realize that not only did he hear her, but he thought she was talking about how he kept dancing. She remembered how for so long, all she wanted was to be held like this by Sasuke, and a question slipped out. Not one she wanted to ask, but one she had to know the answer.

"Why do you do it Naruto?" She asked it so quietly that if she hadn't been so close Naruto would not have heard it. "Why do you keep on going after Sasuke?"

The response came surprisingly quick. "Because I want to see you be happy. I made a promise to return him to you and I intend to keep that promise." He ended it with a smile. A genuine smile; a hurt smile. She realized then who Naruto truly was. Something she had been blind to for most her life. How he was truly willing to sacrifice everything for her, including his life, if it would make her just a little happier.

"I don't love him." She said it suddenly and it seemed to catch Naruto so off guard that he stopped dancing al together and just looked at her. "I don't love him anymore. I don't even know him anymore. No, I don't love him. Truth is, I think... I think that... I… love…" She looked into his searching blue eyes, wide with anticipation. She reached up and in a moment their lips were softly pressed against one another. The kiss was gentle, and at first, warranted no immediate reaction from the blond haired boy, but soon he closed his eyes and over five years of passion began to flow out of his soul and into hers. All too soon, the kiss ended and they parted lips. He looked into her eyes, brushing a bang out of the way, and said:

"I keep going because in the end, you make it all worth it."


End file.
